March 23 is an important day in the annals of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya. For it was on this historic day in the beginning of the 14th century of Islam that the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian formally began to initiate his disciples through the system of Bia’at into the spiritual Order of Silsila Ahmadiyya, a community of true believers who will be sincere helpers and supporters of the larger causes of Islam in the modern world. The first Bia’at into the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya took place in Ludhiana on Rajab 20, 1306 AH ~23 March 1889.
Historically speaking, the idea of Bia’at in the then, newly-established Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, in many ways, resembled the practice in Sufi Orders of the medieval Islamic world where disciples formed a chain of spiritual relationship with their spiritual preceptor and Imam through Bia’at, the rite of initiation of a disciple into the Sufi spiritual path or Tariqah. In the Sufi traditions, Bia’at denotes ‘Wilayah’ or the transmission of the spiritual power, from the Prophet to certain of his Companions and through them to one generation after another of those seeking to follow the spiritual path.
As a spiritual concept and practice, Bia’at has strong and deep antecedents in the faith
traditions of Islam. Indeed, the Holy Qur’an speaks of the original covenant of
humanity with God through the Prophets: ‘[Prophet], when your
Lord took out the offspring
from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves,
He said, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and they replied, ‘Yes, we bear witness.’ (7:173)
“And remember God’s blessing upon you, and His covenant by which He bound
you, when you said, ‘We hear and we obey.’ And reverence God. Truly God knows
what lies within breasts” (5:8).
“Fulfill My covenant, and I shall fulfill your covenant, and be in awe of Me.” (2:41)
Prophets and the Covenant
It is to
revitalize and re-energise humanity’s primordial covenant with God
that prophets and sages appear amongst peoples. That is how an
elect of God becomes a ‘reminder’; a reviver of religions, or a renewer of the
Faith. These servants of God committed their disciples and followers to the
true path of piety and instructed them to always remain within the bounds of
the covenant with God: to establish Tawheed; to guard against evil; to
promote good deeds, and to aid and assist Divine reformers in the cause of God
whenever they appear among the people. The Qur’an states: ‘And [remember] when We made a covenant with the prophets and We
made it with you.’ (33:8)
‘And [remember] when God made the
covenant of the prophets, “By that which I have given you of a Book and Wisdom,
should a messenger then come to you confirming that which is with you, you
shall believe in him and you shall help him.” He said, “Do you agree and take
on My burden on these conditions?” They said, “We agree.” He said, “Bear
witness, for I am with you among those who bear witness.” (3:82)
Bia’at with the Holy Prophet (sa)
‘Whoever obeys the Messenger obeys God.’
(4:81)
‘Those who pledge loyalty to you
[Prophet] are actually pledging loyalty to God Himself– God’s hand is placed on
theirs––and anyone who breaks his pledge does so to his own detriment: God will
give a great reward to the one who fulfils his pledge to Him.’ (48:11)
‘Prophet, when
believing women come and pledge to you that they will not ascribe any partner
to God, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor lie about
who has fathered their children, nor disobey you in any
righteous thing, then you should accept their pledge of allegiance and pray to
God to forgive them: God is most forgiving and merciful.’ (60:13)
It is instructive
to note that the Holy Prophet (sa) took Bia’at not only from the men, but also
from the women as they are spiritually independent and are responsible for
their obedience to Allah (swt) and the Prophet (sa), and it is this great legacy
of the Holy Prophet (sa) that Khulafatullah
and Mujaddidin in Islam continue
through the system of Bia’at that they maintained with their disciples and
followers in every era.
In claiming to be the Divinely-commissioned reformer of the Later Days, and in inviting people to join him in the Divine mission through the system of Bia’at, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian was following Divine instructions. In seeking to establish a band of devout Muslims for working together in the cause of God Almighty, the Promised Messiah (as) made the following observation:
'I have been commanded that the seekers after truth should enter into the covenant of Bia’at with me for the purpose of learning the way of true faith, true purity of faith and the love of the Lord and of discarding an evil, slothful and disloyal life. Therefore, those who perceive some of such strength in themselves should come forward to me. I shall be the sharer of their sorrows and shall try to lighten their burdens. God will bless them through my prayers and my attention towards them, provided they are wholeheartedly ready to comply with the conditions of the covenant which are divinely determined. This is a divine command that I have conveyed today.
The revelation in Arabic in this context is:
‘When you have made up your mind put your trust in Allah; and construct
the ark under Our supervision and Our revelation. Those who make the covenant
with you enter into a covenant with Allah. The hand of Allah is above their
hands.’---- [Haqqani-Taqrir bar Waqi‘ah Wafat-e-Bashir, December 1, 1888, Majmu‘a-e-Ishtiharat, vol. 1, p. 188; Sabz Ishtihar, p. 24, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 2, p. 470]
In other revelations received at the initial days of the founding of the Jamaat, Hazrat Mirza (as) was assured of Divine support and endorsement:
‘The earth is covered with the flood of error. You should prepare this ark in this time of flood so that whoever boards this ark would be delivered from being drowned and whoever will persist in denial will face death.’
‘He
who puts his hand in your hand will have put his hand in the hand of God.’ ---[Fath-e-Islam, pp.
42–43, first edition, printed December and January 1890–1891, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 24–25]
Bia’at Today
A century
after the Promised Messiah (as), his words of wisdom on the true purpose and
larger meaning of Bia’at continues to resonate across time. Reproduced Below is
solemn advices left behind by that great soul on what it entails to abide by Bia’at-
the personal commitment that we undertake when we agree to join the circle of Divine
Manifestation represented by the advent of a prophet, a spiritual reformer, a
chosen messenger of our times:
‘The members of my Jama‘at, whether they
are present here or whether they are in their own places, should listen
carefully to this admonition. The purpose of their joining the Movement and
establishing with me a relationship like that of a disciple is that they should
achieve a high degree of piety and righteousness. No wrongdoing or mischief
should ever come near them. They should offer the five daily Prayers regularly
and with congregation, and should not lie nor hurt anyone by their tongues.
They should not be guilty of any kind of vice and should
not let even a thought of mischief, wrongdoing or transgression pass through
their minds.
They should shun every type of sin,
offence, undesirable speech and action, as well as all egoistic passions and
unruly behaviour. They should become pure-hearted, harmless and meek servants
of God Almighty, and no poisonous germ should flourish in their beings. They
should be sincerely loyal and obedient to the British Government, under which
their properties, lives and honour are secure. Sympathy for the entire mankind should
be their motto and they should fear God Almighty. They should safeguard their
tongues, their hands and their thoughts against every kind of impious and
disorderly behaviour and against dishonesty.
They should establish the five daily
Prayers with utmost regularity. They should refrain from every kind of wrong,
transgression, embezzlement, bribery, encroachment of other people’s rights and
undue partiality. They should not participate in evil company. If it should be
proved that one who frequents their company does not obey God’s commandments,
or is not loyal to the benevolent government, or is not mindful of people’s
rights, or is cruel or mischievous or of a loose character, or is seeking to
deceive the servants of God Almighty by continuing in the habit of abusing, or making
false allegations against the person with whom they have entered into a
covenant of Bia’at, it will be their
duty to remove such evil from among them and to keep away from such a dangerous
person.
Do not contrive to harm the followers of
any religion or the members of any caste or group. Be true well-wishers of everyone,
and take care that no mischievous or vicious person, or disorderly one or
ill-behaved one should ever be of your company, or should dwell among you; for
such a one will, sooner or later, cause you to stumble.
These are matters and conditions that I
have been urging from the beginning and it is the duty of every member of my
Jama‘at to act upon all
these admonitions. Let there be no impurity or mockery or derision in your
meetings. Walk upon the earth with pure hearts and pure tempers and pure thoughts.
Remember! Not every evil is worth
fighting, so cultivate the habit of forgiveness, and practice toleration and
forbearance. Do not attack anyone improperly and keep your passions under
complete control. If you take part in a discussion or exchange views on a
religious topic, express yourself gently and be courteous. If anyone misbehaves
towards you, withdraw from such company quickly with the greeting of peace. If
you are persecuted or reviled, be mindful that you should not meet stupidity
with stupidity, for otherwise, you will be accounted in the same category as
your opponents.
God Almighty desires that you should
become a Jama‘at that should set
an example of goodness and truthfulness for the whole world. Therefore, hasten
to exclude everyone from your company who sets an example of mischief and
provocation. He who cannot dwell among us in meekness and piety, and is not gentle
in his speech and righteous in his conduct, should promptly leave us, for God
does not desire that such a one should dwell among us. He will surely die in
misery, for he did not adopt the way of goodness. Be alert, therefore, and be
truly good-hearted and gentle and righteous. You will be known by your regular
attendance at Prayer and by your high moral qualities. He who has the seed of
evil embedded in him will not be able to conform to this admonition.
Your hearts should be free of deceit,
your hands should be free from transgression and your eyes should be free from
impurity. There should be nothing inside you except truth and sympathy for mankind.
I trust that my friends who dwell with me in Qadian will set a high
example in respect of all their faculties.
I do not desire that there should ever
be anyone in our pious Jama‘at whose character
is suspect or to whose behaviour any exception might be taken, or who should be
inclined towards disorderliness or suffer from any other kind of impiety. If we
hear any complaint against anyone that he deliberately disregards the
obligations due to God Almighty, or sits among people who indulge in mockery or
indecency, or is guilty of any kind of misconduct, he will be immediately
excluded from the Jama‘at and will no
longer be able to remain with us and our friends….
The fact is that the field which is
cultivated with much labour and is ripened also contains some weeds that have
to be cut down and burnt. Such is the law of nature, and our Jama‘at is no
exception. I know that those who have joined my Jama‘at with all
sincerity have been bestowed hearts by God Almighty which instinctively hate
evil and love goodness, and I do hope that they will set a good example for the
people.’ [Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, vol. 3, pp. 46-49]
On the Day of Judgement, like everyone else, we will be brought to account about how we fared in our responsibility to positively respond to Divine Elects and messengers in our own day: may Allah (swt) protect us from being among the law-breakers in the eyes of God; may Allah (swt) have mercy on us, and enlist our names among those who accepted and assisted the Divine Elect of our times, Insha Allah, Aameen, Ya Rabb’il Aalameen.
*********